Council action on proposed Charter amendment

The Minneapolis City Council on Aug. 28 voted to not place the ballot question submitted by the Citizens for Independent Parks on to the Nov. 3, 2009 ballot.

The Council took this vote following the City Attorney’s legal opinion that the ballot language:

conflicts with the Minnesota Constitution,

is preempted by Minnesota law, and

violates state public policy.

The opinion of the City Attorney's Office concluded that the City lacks authority through the charter amendment process to create separate, independent local units of government as proposed by the charter petition. This authority is granted by the Minnesota Constitution to the state legislature. The opinion concludes that the proposed amendment is, therefore, inconsistent with both the Minnesota Constitution and state law.

State statute directs how changes may be made to the City of Minneapolis’ Charter, and requires that the City Council review all petitions for charter amendments before they are placed on the ballot.

Although many petition drives have led to ballot questions in Minneapolis, there have been other situations where the City Council has had to vote to not place ballot questions on to ballots because of conflicts with state or federal laws, or public policies. Those include a proposal to establish medical marijuana distribution centers and a proposal to establish term limits for local elected officials.